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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Cheap and Easy Weeknight Dinner

So I’m always in search of healthy, quick, and cheap dinners to make on the weeknights. I was wandering aimlessly in Target’s grocery aisles yesterday with no cooking inspiration what so ever. I was on the verge of just leaving and picking up Chinese or Mexican, or some other sodium loaded, bloat-filled meal on my way home instead of cooking…then, all of a sudden I happened upon these lovely gems Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice and Cilantro and picked up two cans. Then I proceeded to get a can of black beans, and some frozen corn. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it all, but I knew I could figure something out. So when I got home and searched through my pantry I pulled out some brown rice and whipped up a hodgepodge one pot dish that actually turned out really good. The fiancé even commented several times about how good it was, which is surprising considering it’s super healthy (brown rice + black beans = tons of fiber) and meatless. So anytime you’re looking for something super quick and easy, this is your dish. I popped it in the oven, went on a run, and when I came back dinner was ready, what more could a girl ask for? Enjoy!

Recipe Gurl’s Delish Rotel Creation:

Ingredients:

2 cups brown rice

2 cans of Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice and Cilantro

1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

Frozen Corn (use the empty Rotel can to measure out a can and a half of corn)

1 ½ cups water

Optional (but Recipe Gurl recommended) toppings:

Light sour cream

Reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

Chopped avocado sprinkled with lime juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Please all ingredients in a 13x9 casserole dish and mix together.

Place casserole dish in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes stir the dish up, see if the dish looks dry or not (if it does add a touch more of water so that the rice can finish cooking). Set the cooking time for another 20-25 minutes. If rice still needs more cooking time, leave it in for a little longer. Keep testing the rice to see whether or not it seems to be cooking and gauge oven temp and amount of water in the dish.

Top the dish with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Tip: If you wanted to add more protein to the dish you could always incorporate shredded pieces from a rotisserie chicken and just mix it in the dish before baking.